Anyone who has been to the rally for the last three or four years since the loss of the Galton Enterprise Centre knows that the event has had to be accommodated in a large NATO styled tent erected on the car park next to the canal.

The society has borrowed this tent from Sandwell and over the years the old khaki coloured canvas to the tent has deteriorated from being a serviceable but scruffy cover to last year in 2000 a scruffy and leaky cover. Last years really was the last time we could use the cover and in an effort to obtain more room for a bar in the tent we extended the tent . This was achieved by the skill centre constructing a scaffold frame into which the tent would locate at one end, and then covering the linked structure with tarpaulins and hoping that if it rained it would be water proof. Well it did rain and the tent canvas leaked like a sieve but the extension did not thus proving its worth. Thankfully it didn't rain all weekend and with an application of a waterproofing liquid to the canvas we survived the event.

But it was obvious that the tent on a number of fronts was no longer use able. It did not come up to modern fire regulations, leaked like a sieve, smelt of damp when first put up, was not big enough and looked like it had just returned from Kosova. It was at this stage of the tent no longer being a viable unit that Sandwell virtually gave us the tent. So it was decided to see if the frame could be extended and recovered.

The frame is made up of aluminium poles linked together by aluminium castings. Various visits to Ex MOD suppliers made it clear that second hand canvas sheets not much better than the ones we where scrapping could be obtained but that the frame work was not available. Barry Johnson soon solved the frame problem by having steel joints made by one of his many contacts in the engineering world. Via the same contacts enough aluminium poles were purchased that extended the tent from its original 48 feet length to 60 feet. The cost of replacing the khaki canvas with like was going to be near £1500 and would not meet the fire regulation problem. After much discussion it was decided to see how much it would cost to replace the covers in a more modern material, that in its design, and construction would meet all the needs of the society for years to come. Visits to various tent manufactures and the estimated cost of between £2000 to £2500 seemed to be the going price.

The old canvas consisted of both the roof and walls being in twelve feet wide sheets, five sheets being needed to cover the sixty foot frame. The sheets were laced together to make a watertight unit, and anybody who performed this task will know that it was a backbreaking, time consuming task obviously designed by the army to keep as many people occupied for as long as possible. A more modern design of the roof was decide upon, the roof being in three sections with the walls being separate and hung on the roof sheets. Much more modern a method of joining sheets with Velcro held down by ratchet strapping was preferred. By hanging the wall sheets onto the roof any number of door entrance and exit combinations could be achieved and by using a white material the interior would be light and airy.

So in mid 2001 a cover was ordered as the event was impossible without a serviceable tent and I wont bore you with the reasons why its delivery was continually delayed. But Wednesday 31st October 2001 came and the we still hadn't taken delivery of the covers. The supplier finally delivered the covers at 3.30pm that afternoon and it was put up for the first time. We had some fun putting it up, various learning curves where travelled and I think I walked off the job a few times but eventually the tent went up. Various covers didn't fit completely and the supplier attended over the week end to make adjustments and has know had parts of the cover back to make sure its right, final payment being deferred until all fits correctly.

The design of the tent also means that its two tents in one. The roof and wall sections make up a large 60 foot long tent, 18ft wide and 14ft high. A smaller tent can also be made up by removing 24 foot long sections in the roof, walls and frame, this tent being 36feet long by the same width etc. The two sizes of tent mean it will meet the needs of most canal side sites.

The tent although not completely right was a great success at this years rally, a warm light and airy interior was achieved because yes it is also equipped with a warm air ducted heating system. A great feature created by Barry Johnson using an industrial hot air blower housed outside the tent with a metal ducting system that runs the length of the tent that is really effective and quiet. So if in the past you have not attended because you didn't fancy sitting in a draughty tent, you no longer have an excuse, or are we in danger of removing the true pioneering spirit of the society with all this luxury?

All this equipment is know owned by the society is stored in the right and secure conditions in the container at Hawne Basin that is going to mean that its available for many years to come.. The next task is to make it into a more transportable kit, so that it can be hired under the right circumstances and at a modest but sensible cost to like societies and groups. In this way all can benefit from its existence and the Society can maintain the equipment and slowly recover its costs.

Jeff Barley.